Postcard from Johannesburg: Krisanne Johnson

Like thousands of others, Krisanne Johnson arrived in South Africa earlier this month, but she wasn’t there for the football. Johnson called some old friends and headed to the outskirts of Jo’burg, where she has been photographing youth for years.

In 2007, Johnson spent time in the townships of Alexandra and Soweto, documenting the culture surrounding Kwaito, a musical genre that emerged at the end of apartheid. “Not unlike early blues and hip-hop in the United States, Kwaito tells stories—of struggle but also of being young, sexual, and free,” Johnson wrote in an e-mail. In recent trips, Johnson has turned her attention to a group of fashionistas from Soweto who call themselves “Smarteez” after the popular, colorful candy. “This generation is fighting a different fight from their parents,” Johnson wrote, “breaking from tradition and expressing themselves individually—through art, fashion, music.”

Here’s a look.

Dancing to Kwaito music at a car wash in Alexandra. Kwaito fans and artists often meet at the car wash on Saturdays to discuss music and neighborhood happenings. “I believe you can learn many things about a country by the way youth live—from fashion to music to home environments,” Johnson wrote. “And this is a recurring theme in most of my work, whether in the United States or southern Africa.”